Cambodia & Community : Florian Bohême, to work more and plus for the French in the Kingdom

Halfway through his term as Councillor for French expatriates, Florian Bohême talks about a number of subjects: school grants, health establishments, the unprecedented political situation in France, the Olympic Games and even the Caledonian crisis, which is having a number of repercussions in the country.

Florian Bohême meets Cho Ray Director

How is Florian Bohême, personally and as “Conseiller pour les Français de l'étranger " (Councillor for French expatriates)?

Personally, I'm doing very well. Then when it comes to my mandate, I always try to be active, to be present with the French community. I'm going to be quite active this autumn with the forum I'm organising on 21 September with several associations. We'll be offering a climbing activity, so that'll be fun for the children at the Institut Français on Saturday morning. Note that it will be the same day as Heritage Day at the Embassy. Phnom Climb will be organising the event, with a mobile climbing wall and a number of French and French-speaking climbing structures. Come and join us!

Next, I'm trying to stay active on the school grants front. I'll be offering an office in Siem Reap on 7 September and another in Phnom Penh on 10 September, specifically to answer people's questions about school grant applications. I would remind you that there are two commissions a year and parents who apply for the second commission must do so before 17 September. So that's why I wanted to organise these two offices. There's also the French school in Battambang, but there I liaise directly with the headmistress.

“The back-to-school forum and the scholarships office are three important highlights in September”.

I'd like to reiterate that, as an elected representative of French people abroad, I'm really fully committed - because sometimes we forget - that it's not a job and that I have a profession, I'm a business owner. I am very honoured to serve the French community.

What are the difficulties and satisfactions of your mandate?

I'm really trying to ensure that information for French people in Cambodia on everything to do with administrative formalities is as easy and straightforward as possible. As we reach the half-way point of my term, it's important to remember that we started with the Covid period. We were still dealing with restrictions and so on. So the first part of the mandate was devoted to that. And then, very quickly, I immersed myself in the files.

Today, for example, we're talking about school grants. I'm really starting to get to grips with the issue. One of the main issues is transparency in grant applications. Today, we can see that the French government is increasingly vigilant in this area. So some people might say that it's a good thing if there's greater transparency.

Personally, I'd say that's good too, but I'd also say ‘be careful’. We mustn't let this greater transparency turn into ‘administrative snooping’ for families. So that's what I've seen during my two and a half years in office: a better understanding of what's at stake and how to ensure that families, most of whom are acting in good faith, can benefit from this right. As you know, there's a 100-page document on school grants that regulates the whole system.

Alongside this, there are small everyday victories. For example, when we manage to solve a pension problem for a fellow citizen. Just last week, at the request of the AEFC, I intervened on behalf of a person who had not received his pension since April 2022, simply because he had an administrative problem. This person wanted to change his bank account to receive his pension. It didn't work, so her pension was suspended for more than two years. I intervened and within 48 hours the problem was solved. So that's a source of satisfaction, it's concrete, small daily acts in support of our compatriots.

What are your next challenges?

In the future? Quite honestly, the challenges for the next few years are going to be to maintain a consular public service that is equal to what France has to offer French people abroad. That's what's important, because today there's a risk that the public service will be cut back. And I firmly believe that we need a consulate that functions as it does today, with well-trained staff, and that's very important.

“The officials at the French embassy have been doing a remarkable and difficult job for all these years, and they need to be supported. They need to be supported because France's diplomatic and consular influence cannot be achieved by systematically cutting all budgets. ”

I'd just like to sound a note of caution on this point, because if we see a weakening diplomatic apparatus, it means we run the risk of having weaker French communities in Cambodia and the region.

Team France is a complete system, with chambers of commerce doing a fantastic job, and high-quality French schools and lycées. This is the great strength of our French communities. And this network really needs to be maintained. Personally, I'm very concerned about the next few years, because we can see that the disintegration of the French State could have a lasting impact on French people abroad.

You recently visited the Cho Ray hospital in Peng Huouth and met and talked with its director, what for ?

There are currently eight hospitals in Phnom Penh that have signed an agreement with the “Caisse des Français de l'Étranger” (CFE) and can therefore offer third-party payment. In other words, when you go to one of these hospitals and you are a member of the CFE, you don't have to pay anything, because the third-party payment system is in place.

There are also two other hospitals in Siem Reap. I hope that we can expand the base of these hospitals, which is why I visited Cho Ray a few weeks ago, and it's true that there are several direct advantages.

There's a French community in this part of Phnom Penh, a district that's undergoing major change, but which is nonetheless off the beaten track. We have many French people living there. So, if tomorrow there's a hospital in this area that's under agreement with the Caisse des Français de l'Étranger, that's a bonus.

Discussion with Cho Ray executives

So I'm going to talk to the Caisse des Français de l'Étranger and its operator responsible for signing agreements with hospitals. Although the Caisse des Français de l'Étranger is in fact an insurer, it delegates the management of its network of agreements to VYV.

“This intervention will therefore be carried out for two hospitals, including Cho Ray, in order to guarantee a wider range of healthcare services for our fellow citizens. I am fulfilling my precise role of representing the French people and defending their interests.”

After that, I'm not a medical professional. So it's not for me to say whether a particular hospital meets all its obligations. However, from what I was able to see when I visited these two health establishments, it's that they have specialised departments for receiving foreign patients and, most of the time, they have French-speaking doctors.

A final word on “local” satisfaction?

Things are moving forward in the field of education. We have new buildings for the French school in Siem Reap. This is thanks to the parents, who rallied round in a fantastic way, who monitored the work and who delivered the project on time. The same goes for the Lycée Français René Descartes, which is currently being extended. So I'd really like to pay tribute to this dynamic community of parent volunteers.

Can you quickly give us your opinion on the political situation in France, which is somewhat unprecedented and could cause concern and perhaps have repercussions on the lives of French people abroad?

As we record this interview, 43 days after the elections, there is still no new government in France. It's an extraordinary situation. I'm not going to comment on this situation because it's changing by the minute. On the other hand, the French have seen that I was involved in the legislative election campaign and that I clearly supported the left-wing candidate; I fully accept my convictions. Faced with the seriousness of the situation, I remain a committed and mobilised citizen.

After that, my conclusion is that we need a Sixth Republic because we can see that the Fifth Republic as we know it and as it was created by and for General de Gaulle no longer works. I would put two things in this sixth republic.

Firstly, a return to a single presidential term of seven years to avoid this hyper-concentration on a single man. That's the first point if we want a 6th Republic. And the second point would be full proportional representation, because that's how all European democracies work, except France.

“At some point, let's also look at what's happening around us and what's working well. And I believe that France today, at this point in its history, is ready to face that.”

The repercussions at international level are clear, let's make no mistake. France's image is fantastic thanks to the Olympic Games, but on the other hand, its political image is more than questionable. How can our country still give lessons today with what is happening in France?

The political situation we're in is Emmanuel Macron's responsibility, and I don't think he's in a position to provide a solution. We talk about it a lot because, as far as France's budget is concerned, at the moment we don't yet know what's going to happen. Along with my colleagues around the world, we are very concerned about the French abroad, because the impact on their budget will be direct, depending on the majority that comes to power tomorrow. The decisions that will be taken will not be the same. I'd like to give you a concrete example from Cambodia, where there was a €150,000 cut in grants in 2024. That's a huge amount and we mustn't overlook it.

Personally, I've been fighting for almost a year now to organise a conference on social protection for French people abroad. I want this major consultation of French people abroad to take place so that they can tell us clearly what they expect today from the State, but also from private players in social protection.

This consultation was accepted by the previous government, which has now resigned. I hope that it will be one of the priorities of the next government.

As you know, I attend the Assembly of French Nationals Abroad, and we have to give an opinion on the social security finance bill, but to date we have received nothing. Yesterday I signed a letter to the Chairman of the National Assembly's Social Affairs Committee asking to meet him when I'm in Paris in October, so that we can focus on the situation of French people living abroad.

Given the current crisis in France, everyone will understand that the French abroad are not necessarily a priority issue for certain politicians. It's also our job, as local elected representatives on the ground, to pass on this message to make sure that we're not completely forgotten in the budgetary decisions that will be made.

Moving on to the Olympic Games, what do you think?

Well, I stayed in Phnom Penh all summer, but I followed the opening ceremony and the competitions closely on TV. It's an immense source of pride to be French, let's face it. There are two images, one of the Seine, where you can see these athletes swimming in the river. It was a superb image of Paris, and the second image I remember is that of the competition site set up at the Château de Versailles for the equestrian events.

It was an extraordinary moment to see this stadium directly set up in the gardens of the castle. As for the opening ceremony, I'll say what I think, I really enjoyed it. What I found quite funny, being here in Cambodia and looking at the social networks, is that our friends who commented on Aya Nakamura's performance, saying it was rubbish, are exactly the same people who adored the performance of Cambodian artist Vannda. So it's kind of funny that two weeks apart, when you have someone who's black - and remember, she's French - everything she could do was rubbish. On the other hand, when you have the national hero Vannda coming to Paris, it's great.

“No, you have to say things. Whether it was Aya Nakamura, Vannda, Céline Dion or Lady Gaga, all the artists who performed brought something extraordinary to the table. It was beautiful, quite simply, and it makes you want to go to France”.

Finally, for me, the most important thing is to know what imprint these Olympic Games will have on France. Let's not forget that we had the Eiffel Tower thanks to the Universal Exhibition, and then the Stade de France, which is also a jewel, thanks to the World Cup. Now we have to look at what we can take from these Olympic Games to help France move forward.

In Paris, there are at least three extraordinary elements. The first would be the pedestrianisation of the Eiffel Tower, because all those people walking around it were magnificent. The second would be to keep the hot-air balloon with the flame and the Olympic cauldron, because this is superb, advanced French technology. The third point would be to keep the statues of illustrious women that have been placed at various points along the Seine to remind us of their struggle to build France.

You also have a point to make about the crisis in New Caledonia

Yes, that's a subject on which I'm also due to speak, and I'm going to put a question to the government. I'm by no means a specialist in New Caledonia, I know a bit about its history, but unfortunately I have no specific ties to the island and no in-depth knowledge of the issue. On the other hand, there are direct repercussions for a number of French people who are leaving New Caledonia because the situation there is too complicated.

In the end, many end up in South-East Asia. We've seen this in Cambodia, where a dozen or so Caledonians have settled. It's also the case in Thailand and Vietnam. And today, they have special situations in their lives as French citizens with regard to all the major institutions. In other words, you have Caledonian Social Security, which has signed an agreement with French Social Security. It's exactly the same for the pension funds. There is the CAFAT in New Caledonia, which has signed agreements with the various pension funds in France. Except that not all of these agreements involve the notion of French nationals living abroad, which means that for some Caledonians who decide to move abroad, there is a loss or complexity in accessing their rights.

I'm going to raise this issue in October when I'm in Paris at the Assembly of French Nationals Abroad, because it's a matter that directly concerns French nationals abroad.